Fantasy Project Anima

[Srion Receno]

She looked down at him feeling nothing her smile had even left her face as she moved her sword above his heart, then she leaned to his ear. "see you in the next life Arthur." she whispered before stabbing the blade through his heart. She lightly kissed his cheek before pulling out the blade as she moved away from his dying body. She hoped there was something some feeling that came from this death but nun came as she stood there looking down at him.

 

[From Darkness]

Ah. That was it. Death has come, and in Her embrace he felt his strength whisked away from his body. The Magic circle below his feet disappeared, as well as the barrier surrounding him. The swords of light evaporated into thin air, and following that his soul as well. He coughed out more blood, both from his dying body and his wounded heart.


"Is this...fate..." He murmured softly on Crimson's ears, feeling her lips touching his cheek ever so gently. Aah. That was enough. Perhaps...it was enough...


He fell down to his knees, then fell laying down on the floor. His eyes still fixated on the assassin. Yes. This...is enough...he can finally...


At that moment, Gills could feel the Magic power in the area slowly receding. The crystal's glow turned darker and darker until they disappeared completely, leaving only torches to illuminate the dark cave. He rushed toward the coffin to catch the girl as she fell down right when the Magic suspending her in the air dissipated. The glowing patterns on her ropes disappeared the moment Arthur's life was finally extinguished.


In a fervor, Gills cut the ropes apart with his rapier, leaving none of them on his sister's body. And then he cut the blindfold off, and finally the rope gagging her mouth. Finally. The moment that he had been waiting this entire nine years. Finally...it is done.


He hugged her in a loving embrace as she began to stir.

 

[Srion Receno]

She stood there watching the light from the priest eyes slowly start to fade. When they were gone and no life was left in his eyes she slid her swords in there sheaths then bent down to him. She looked at him one last time before closing his eyes, before standing up and walking to the prince and his sister.


"come we have to go" she said in a flat tone as she looked down at them.

 

[From Darkness]

The girl seems to be waking up. Her eyes fluttered open, and for a moment they met with Gills's. It was an understanding between siblings. Gills's eyes were watery from tears welling up, which she reacted with a faint smile. Her lips trembled for a while until she finally could form words.


"You've come, big brother."


"Yes..."


"I know...I believed in you. I know you'll come."


"Yes...I know."


Gills wiped his eyes and slowly put her down on the ground. When he heard Crimson calling for him, he stood up and turned to face her. His eyes were filled with happiness, and his smile was bright. And then...


He suddenly lunged forward and without notice grabbed her hands and attempted to throw her swords away. "Don't be stupid! Let them go!" He yanked them as hard as he could, as if his whole life depended on it, and then pushed her back as far as possible from his sister.


"I believed in you, brother..."


She whispered faintly before starting to chant something. It was...foreign. It was not the Old Tongue, which was used by Magus to recite their Magic. No, it was something else. Something...ancient. The girl yelled, her mouth never stopped reciting the foreign language.


At the same time, a black sphere appeared above her head, and it slowly getting bigger. Crimson's swords, thrown to the side of the room, started to be pulled into the mass of blackness and stabbed the dark sphere. Decorative weaponries on the cave started to be pulled as well, as more and more of them joined together to create a mess made of steel.


Steel.


The black-robed woman had just regained consciousness, and when she found the girl reciting the strange language, her face went pale. In a last ditch attempt to stop her, the woman drew a hunting knife from beneath her robe and rushed toward the girl.


"Damnit! Stop, don't do it!"


But Gills couldn't do anything. The knife on the woman's hand was pulled into the black mass, and in extension the woman herself. She hit the black mass screaming all the way, and soon blades stabbed through her entire body, from her head down to her legs. Gills closed his eyes, not able to watch her agonizing death.


"You know, there's one more reason that I hired you to do this job," Gills said to Crimson with a sad face. "You're the only one who can use that dagger. That's the reason. I can't do this alone."


From within the black mass appeared a hand...or more precisely, the limb of a beast. Its gigantic size was enough to cover the entire cave in one swing, its fingers ended in claws sharp enough to tear through castle walls. Another of the limbs came out, and then burst forth its wings, stretching itself upwards and breaking through the ceiling of the cave.


Finally, its head jutted out from within the black mass. Its shape was the stuff of legends, a mystical creature that struck fear upon people's heart. It was a dragon made of steel. The entirety of its body, its limbs, and its wings were made of millions of blades sticking in and out. Its teeth were blades. Dark, black steel of death.


However, it seems that it was not the full size of the beast. What came from the black mass was only its upper part of the body, while its lower part was still stuck within. That was because the girl had stopped reciting the spell. Her body trembled, denying the will that forced her to summon the Dragon in the first place. The steel dragon formed a smirk on its face. Its body, made of countless interweaving of steels and blades, suddenly opened to reveal a hollow cavity instead. With its hand it delicately pushed the girl inside before closing them.


"This is the true form of the power. The Anima Dragon," Gills murmured softly. "Steel, the Cruel Avenger."

 

[Srion Receno]

She shook his head seeing his smile, how can one be so happy when there is disaster all around them. She was about to turn away when he grabbed her hands. "what are you doing!?" she growled as he took the swords from her hands and tossed them aside.


After being pushed back Crimson glared at him going for her dagger until she noticed his sister yelling something. She stood quietly as she seen the black mass and then her swords flying to it. Seeing this her anger became worse as she took a step to him, put seeing the women in black run at the girl she stopped and watched as she was run through with the swords.


She looked back at him and grabbed his shirt angerly as he spoke "why didnt you tell me this before!" she had started to regret killing the priest as the dragon started to come out of the black sphere. She dropped his shirt and stepped back as she placed her hand on the dagger.... How was she sapost to kill that?

 

[From Darkness]

Gills was looking at her with a coy smile. "Because no sane person would accept if I told them about this," he laughed dryly. With a fluid movement he drawn his rapier out, readying it on his hand. "I know you can this. We can do this. Can't you feel your Animus Blade screaming to fight?" He glanced at her dagger. His rapier was gushing out white threads of light, spreading over his body. His body felt lighter. Faster. Stronger. Meanwhile, the urge to fight the Dragon grew stronger in his mind. But he shook it off. His task was not to kill it.


"This is my Animus Artifact: Perfect Counter. You've seen how it works before. I can nullify any attack coming to me, as long as this blade can touch it. I'll create an opening. Use your dagger's power to open the path and retrieve back my sister from within its body."


After saying that, he jolted away with a strong leap of his feet. The Dragon noticed him coming after it and started to roar. It opened its wings and then flapped it. Blades. Blades of various shapes and size fell down from them, a rain made of steel and death. Gills nimbly dodged the incoming blades, while the ones he couldn't dodge was deflected by a small touch of his rapier. One by one, as his blade touched the Dragon's attack, the yellowish hue on his blade grew bigger and bigger until it enveloped its entirety.


Gills slashed the rapier down. The yellowish hue turned into a stream of energy, launched toward the Dragon. It closed its wings to shield itself from the impact, but Gills used that moment to leapt up and landed on its head.


"Dance with me, you bastard!"


He stabbed the rapier into the Dragon's forehead. The blade didn't pierce deep enough to make any wound, but it certainly angered the Beast. The Dragon swiped its claws at Gills, who used his rapier to parry them. Sparks flared out as his blade and its claws locked into a stalemate; neither side intending to back down.

 

[Srion Receno]

She watched everything as she stood there watching the prince and the dragon fight. She could feel the excitement bubbling up in side her, and she started to giggle. "it's a good thing I'm not sane" she laughed grabbing her dagger from it's sheath, turning into the black mass.


She would go for his stomach as soon as she seen the opening. Watching him on top of the dragon she quickly ran for it's under belly as soon as it was distracted by the prince. Once there she quickly slashed at it's stomach.

 

[From Darkness]

The Dragon was concentrating its attack on the Prince, exchanging blows using both hands. Each time his attacks would be deflected and so it tried changing the pattern of attack multiple times. Gills managed to stay ahead by predicting his attack, but there's no way his stamina would last that long. His effort wasn't in vain, though, as it left the Dragon's belly open for attack.


It noticed the black mass Crimson had become rushing to its position, and so it launched blades from his wings at her. However, each blades would just went pass through her without dealing any damage whatsoever. When it was still confused from this unaccounted enemy, the opportunity presented itself. She managed to slash the Beast on its stomach.


The attack connected, but the Beast didn't seem to show any pain. Or, it was incapable of feeling pain in the first place. She did succeed on creating an open gash on the Beast's skin. Broken blades fell clanking on the ground, and in their place was a hole showing the inside of the Beast. The girl was inside, within an empty space between all those blades. Still, she might need to carve the opening bigger if she wanted to go through.


Before she could do another attack, however, several Magic circles appeared around the Dragon's body, and from them launched forth purple energy in the form of blades.


At that time, out of nowhere, a voice echoed in her mind. "...Assassin...come..."


Arthur Lancwein's voice. Beckoning her to get to his body.

 

[Srion Receno]

Crimson smiled she had seceded in slashing it open but looking in the opening was to small for her and the girl. As she was about to slash at it again she had seen the purple blades coming for her. Butting her lip she jumped away from the dragon "damn" she mumbled looking at the beast.


"priest you are dead....will this keep happening?" she mumbled as she turned on her heel and ran to his body. Making it there she turned again and looked at the dragon so she could defend off attacks.

 

[From Darkness]

The Head Priest's body had grown cold. There was no mistaking that he was dead. However, the speck of his Magic remained. The crystal which had his Magic circulating within it kept them from dissipating into the ether, at least for now. As such, the mental link he'd made earlier was still intact. It was his soul...or was it his life? Or perhaps, it was simply his will. His last, dying wish.


"I don't think...even I can cheat death..." the voice echoed with a sad tone on them. "However...you've unsealed the Beast of destruction...I don't know whether you are...goo...or bad...but there was no one else whom I can entrusted it with..."


Magic circle appeared on the ground, covering both Arthur's body and Crimson. His corpse started to glow white, and slowly the white light rose, forming itself into a sphere. In an instant, it thrusted itself into Crimson's chest. Magic poured into her body, the power held by the High Priest.


"I entrusted my power to you...the power of the High Priest...I don't know...whether you can wield it or not...but...when the time comes...if you deemed that you have to do it...use it to kill the Beast." As the power finally settled on her body, his voice slowly disappeared until there was no more.

 

[Srion Receno]

Seeing the glow from the corner of her eye turning she couldn't believe her eyes or her ears when he started to glow...and the voice in her head was his yet he was dead. the magic circle made her take a slight step back as she watched the sphere of light go from him to her chest. why would he give the one that killed him this magic..the power of the High Priest? "wait were did you go?..." she whispered then turned back to the dragon. she couldn't think of this now she must get the girl out to finish the job.


Looking at the dragon her body turned to shadow again "lets try this again" she mumbled as she got ready for her next opening to strike at its stomach.

 

[From Darkness]

Gills had started to struggle against the Dragon's attacks. It kept on changing its pattern, making it harder and harder for him to predict where its next blow would come from. After being forced to avoid its claws, Gills started to jump away from it after seeing what it was going to do.


The Dragon had lifted its head up toward the ceiling, black fumes boiling from within its maw. Magic circle appeared in front of its mouth, and when it faced both Gills and Crimson once more, roaring and opening its mouth wide, Gills knew what will happen next.


Its shooting its breath attack.


"Do not move!" Gills shouted at Crimson. Three Magic circles showed up forming a barrel in front of the Dragon, and then burst forth a stream of black, dark matter created from countless number of blades. Each was sharp enough to cut through even the strongest metal. Together they would wreck apart everything on their way. This is the power of despair, the power that is able to decimate the world in a single blast. Yet Gills stood on its way, his hands gripping his rapier as hard as he could.


"Oooh!" The stream and his blade met, and the Animus Artifact did its work: the stream of blades stopped right when they touched the rapier, slowly dissipating to thin air. However, the Dragon kept on pushing new blades into the stream, not intending to back down from the exchange. The yellowish hue glowing on Gills's rapier started to spiral out of control, growing larger by each forces that it absorbed.


And then, alongside a yell, he unleashed the stored power. The equivalent of everything he'd stopped; the power of the Dragon's breath itself. Both power collided, both yellowish and dark black stream pushing on one another. In the end, the yellow stream won, and the energy hit the Dragon right on its head, causing it to roar in pain.


"Now! GO!" Gills shouted at Crimson as he ran forward once more. He had to keep distracting the Dragon. That attack couldn't stop it for long.

 

[Srion Receno]

Crimson stopped as she seen the dragon start up with magic in front of its mouth. "grate what now?" she mumbled as she started to move again, but stopped as soon as the prince told her not to move. standing there she watched the flames hit his sword, she was sure the power of the dragon would over take him. She smirked seeing his rapier glow and then crash into the black steam then hit its head. Seeing her opening she was already running as he told her to go. she ran and sliced into its belly then reached in to try to grab the girl.

 

[From Darkness]

As the blades which formed its skin collapsed and broke from her slash, a wide gap opened, showing the inside of its body. In the hollow space within, the girl floated, seemingly in a deep slumber. When she reached inside, however, her eyes stirred open. The feeling of someone reaching for her had awakened her consciousness, overriding the control of the Dragon. The girl gave her a gentle smile and reached out her hand as well until she finally managed to grab Crimson's hand. She jumped out, burying her face on Crimson's chest.


"Hmmhmm...you did it...thank you," she murmured softly before looking up to meet her eyes. She had blue eyes instead of her brother's brown, but the same fiery spirit resided within them. "It's alright now. It's alright."


Seeing that Crimson had managed to save his sister, Gills jumped away right when another claws threatened to slice him apart. The mission was a success. Finally realizing that they had snatched the girl away, the Dragon roared and rushed into them, opening his jaw wide to eat them all.


"Steel, the Cruel Avenger...as your summoner, I command you," the girl turned to look at the Dragon, her eyes unwavered by the coming monstrosity. "Kneel."


The Dragon suddenly fell down, as if gravity itself mercilessly pushed him down. It dragged on the ground until stopping right in front of Crimson and the girl. The black sphere from before appeared once more.. Bit by bit, the blades forming the Dragon's body broke apart, getting sucked into the black sphere. The Dragon let out a final roar before its entire being disappeared into the black sphere, which then dissipated into nothingness.


After it was done, the cave grew silent once more. A few rocks fell from the ceiling, caused by the damage when the Dragon's wings stabbed through it. It is, finally, over.


Gills fell down to his knees, struggling to catch his breath. His body felt a rush of pain, suffering from the effect of his blade enhancing his physique. But it was worth it. After all...


His sister is now here with him. With them.

 

[Srion Receno]

it was a strange feeling the girl hug her then looking into her eyes, they were different from her brothers. hearing the dragon coming to them she readied her dagger and was prepared to fight. the surprise of the girl taking command of the dragon was hard to sink in until it was completely gone.


Crimson looked at were the dragon had then at the girl, her mind then turned to the prince. she looked over at him on his knees and glared "you!" she moved away from the girl and tackled him. "I should kill you!" she screamed as she pointed her dagger at his throat, though she had an exiting day and her fill of fun she could still kill him for keeping her in the dark.

 

[From Darkness]

Gills didn't expect her to tackle him, and thus she managed to push him to the ground with a satisfying thud. His head hurts now. Although that might not be as dangerous as the dagger pointing at his throat right now. Guess it's out from the the frying pan into the fire.


"Ouch, ouch! Hey, careful! ...Well...sorry? Hahaha," he gave her a large, although rather artificial, smile. Suddenly, he heard a faint laugh. The girl was watching their banter from the side, and she looked happy. After she stopped laughing, she walked over to Crimson and hugged her from behind.


"I'm sorry for this, big sister Crimson. Please don't blame my big brother. I am the one who asked him to do all this. If you want to be angry at someone, please let it be me," she murmured softly. Her grip slowly weakened though, and she began to slip down. Gills broke free from Crimson's hold and gripped his sister to prevent her from falling.


"She's still weak after all this," Gills said to Crimson. "I'll explain everything later. For now, can we just get back to Norman's Inn. I want to let my sister rest."

 

[Srion Receno]

She had ignored the girl until she felt her arms around her from behind. She wanted to run this dagger through his neck and see his blood run out of him, but feeling her grip loosen on her back she sighed and let the prince break free from her. She turned and glared at the Prince "you hold anything back from me again and ill take yours and your sisters lives" she growled then placed her dagger in its sheath. She was not in the mood for him but kept walking the day would soon come and they had to go before the ones they knocked out awoke. "hurry if we are going together" she mumbled as she walked.

 

[From Darkness]

Gills gave her a large grin, this time genuine. "Thanks a lot!" He helped his sister to walk, letting her leaning on him. "This cave has another exit on the forest outside the city," the girl remarked while pointing toward the far end of the cave. "Just follow that direction and we'll reach the exit."


"Well, let's go," Gills chimed merrily, the pain from before was nothing compared to the burden being lifted from his heart. These nine years...all those nightmares, all those frustation, finally it ended here. He looked back toward the High Priest's corpse, laying on the pool of his own blood as if sleeping. His personal vendetta had finally ended.


"Oh. Come to think of it, you don't know me yet," the girl suddenly said to Crimson. "My name is Artesia. Artesia Frauvert Serion. You can call me Arty. Nice to meet you, Crimson Rose."


She flashed her a gentle smile. A smile as bright as the sun.

=== END OF PHASE 1 ===​

 

[From Darkness]

Rising after the advent of the world, triggered by the two Gods, humans conquered lands and called it their own. They harnessed Magic. They harnessed knowledge to shape the world as they see fit. They gathered together, declaring themselves a Kingdom, and ruled over the land of their own. Since time immemorial, wars were waged in the name of honor and glory. For the Kingdom. For the People. Kingdoms rise and fall, yet this endless cycle never ended.


And yet, there are those Kingdoms who remained at the top of the world. Those were the Kingdoms who ruled over absolute power. Generations ago, the founder of those Kingdoms gained hold of the power of the Gods, and since then they had used it to either decimate their opponents or reinforce peace.


In one such Kingdom, the largest in the continent, Serion, a Prince and and a assassin met. As if designed by fate, their meeting would trigger a change. A change that will determine the fate of the world...

​

2rd Phase
==========​

It was hours later when Gills and company emerged from the cave's exit in the forest outside the capital. The city was in chaos. Citizens were running around in panic as the guards tried futilely to calm the situation down. In such situation, it was not a hard feat to sneak by the guards at the gate. Now that they're safely inside the capital, Gills led them to the dark alley where Norman's Inn was located. The guards didn't dare to frequent this area, thus giving them a slight respite, albeit temporarily.


Ignoring the rushing patrons who were clamoring like mad, discussing the state of the city, Gills escorted Arty to their room and let her sleep. Her priority should be to rest her body for now. As for Crimson...Gills had a feeling that he'd better explained everything in detail lest she would chop him to pieces.


This time, he borrowed Norman's back room for the occassion. The bulky bartender was there as well, and Gills had just finished the recap of their yesternight's adventure. As expected, Norman was left with a shocked face, and a jaw opened so wide Gills was afraid that it would fell off his face.


"Basically! Now that you know about this, you are an accomplice. So there's no point in ratting us to the guards. They'll take you anyway. Those church guys don't play around."


Norman closed his jaw with his hand before answering him. "If you're playing tricks on me, I'll..."


"I'm not kidding. Ask her," Gills pointed toward Crimson.


"...Okay, I need time to sink this in," Norman clutched his head. "Damnit, just eight hours ago I thought you're on a night trip to do something nice with the lady, and now you're actually...a fucking Prince? And you're an assassin? Although I kinda have a feeling about that...but that's beside the point. What the fuck?" He hit his head numerous times. "This just doesn't feel real...what the hell..."


Ignoring Norman, who've just regressed into infantile murmurs as if trying to escape reality, Gills turned to face Crimson. "Alright, now that we're here. I guess I can explain everything to you. Let's see...there's so many things that I have to say now. Where do you think I should start...?"

 

[Srion Receno]

When they came into the it was in an uproar everyone was freaking out, which only made Crimson laugh a bit as she watched the back of the princes head. She had been like that the whole time glaring at him not letting him out of her sight for one moment.


After arriving in the room she still had on a look of a calm anger about her as she watched Norman freak out over the situation. When he was told to ask her she only nodded confirming it was true. She couldn't shake a strange feeling that she had since deal thing with the priest, "at the beginning were else would you start? " she asked in a flat tone as she shook her head at the princes question of were to start.

 

[From Darkness]

"Right, at the beginning..." Gills scratched his head. "But bear with me. This is a looooong story..."


"At the start, there was two Gods. I already said that the Three Deities is basically a crap. But the two Gods, they're real. Like, real real. One of them is called Animus, the holder of Life. The other one is called Anima, the holder of World. Both of them had a fight in the past. I don't know whether this is true or not, but it happened."


"At the aftermath of the war, both Gods were broken. Animus was broken into sixty-three pieces, while Anima was broken into seven. Guess you understand now why I called this weapon Animus Artifact, eh?" He pulled out his rapier and showed it to her. "This, is one of the sixty-three weapons holding the power of the God Animus. And your dagger over there. That is also one of them. These weapons are special. They will only allowed themselves to be used by someone they chose as worthy. And in this case, this rapier chose me, while that dagger chose you."


"I'm sure that you've used that dagger's power before. It defied logic. It was not Magic. This power...it overrides everything that we know about this world. Such is the power of a God. And this is just a small portion of that power. one over sixty-three. Imagine what happened when that power was condensed into a bigger piece. Now you know how strong the seven pieces of Anima is."


"While Animus was broken in the shapes of weapons, pieces of Anima was shaped as Dragons. These beasts couldn't reside in this world by themselves, therefore they anchored their existence into hosts. I don't know how the qualification works, but all of them were females. Among those who knew of this fact, they were called the Dragon Princess. Those who can summons those raw powers at will."


He coughed a bit before continuing.


"You've just fought Steel. You know how strong just one of the Dragon is. And the only weapon that can hurt them? Our Animus Artifacts, that's what. Even after they were broken into pieces, these Gods still wanted to fight each other. Our Animus Artifacts are immune to damage from anything in this world except those Dragons. We are existences that destroy each other."


He shrugged.


"Well, I don't really care about all of those. The short idea is that our Kingdom, and the other five Kingdoms, retained their power for generations just because they have these Dragons on their command. One Dragon for one Kingdom. That was why my Father the King married daughters of all those noble families. Dragon Princesses have historically been born from those families, and he had hoped that one of his wives would give birth to another Dragon Princess. And whether it is luck or a cruel fate at works, this time it was...my sister."


His grip on the rapier got stronger just for a bit.

 

[Srion Receno]

When he started to talk she thought he was just joking when he actually started at the beginning of this, but hearing him continue to talk she sighed. She sighed again as she leaned up against the wall and listened to him talk. after he had finished she nodded he had answered a few of her questions so she wouldn't kill him for now.


"you are lucky it was easy to take down the priest" she mumbled to her self as she crossed her arms. "so my payment will be when because i should get out of town, you might not of been seen because of your cloak but mine was taken off at the beginning" she also wanted to get new swords her other two went into the black mass and the thought of not having the two swords bugged her a bit. she had her bag of coins on her side from going into the room, she was going to be alright with this because of how the job went, but facing a dragon was worth more then what she had.

 

[From Darkness]

Gills laughed dryly. "Ah yeah, about that..." He shifted his weight on the chair again and again, feeling a bit uncomfortable about what he would say next. "Would you believe me if I say that my sister is a prophet?"


Cue silence for a while.


"...Your sister is a what...?" Norman, who was silent all the time Gills was going with his exposition, asked with a vacant expression. Seems that that was too much info going in his head.


"Prophet."


"Your sister is a milk with ale?"


"...That's posset," he gave Norman a funny look. "Basically, she can see the future. When she was five, she suddenly talked to me about...things. Creepy things. About what the future would be. Told me that she would be taken by the church. Told me that I would meet you, Norman. Told me that an assassin would try to kill me, but that assassin will help me instead," he glanced at Crimson. "Perhaps, she was talking about you."

 

[Srion Receno]

She turned away from him with her arms crossed "I still might kill you..." she said in a flat voice. This kept getting stranger and stranger as the day went on and she was starting to get annoyed, no matter how fun this all was. "you know this is all interesting but seriously my payment?" she turned to the prince with a slight glare.

 

[From Darkness]

Gills averted his gaze from her. Even if she was joking, her threat was still scary. You don't want to hear that you'll be killed when it's said by an actual killer..."Yes, yes, I get it," he shrugged. "I've hid the gold in the forest. As we're going to run away from the city anyway, I'll get it for you on the way. So until then you're stuck with us. Is that okay?"


"Oh yeah, about that," Norman quipped in. "The horses are ready. There's supply for a week or so. That's the best I can do for you."


"Alright, thanks," Gills nodded. "I'll take Arty away from here tonight. So just bear with us for now."